Last weekend we went to Athens. Please enjoy some photos.
Getting your Drivers License in Germany
Let me start by saying that it continues to boggle my mind as to why the German government would make driving license reciprocity agreements on a state by state basis. Virginia has reciprocity, New Jersey does not. Can somebody please explain?
To get the process started, today I went to the Lörrach ADAC office to have my Virginia drivers license translated (cost: 36 Euros). Once complete I will go to my local Führerscheinstelle to start what I’m sure will be a lengthy paperwork-filled process. Hopefully because my US drivers license is from Virginia I will in fact have Prüfungsfreiheit and will not have to take the German road and written tests. In any case luckily for you dear reader, this should give me lots to write about in the coming weeks.
In the mean time there is lots of great information on how to get your drivers license in Germany at the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany website.
Managing your handy as a Grenzgänger
German Grenzgängerin Bianca Fritz over at fudder.de has a list of 7 tips for dealing with your cellphone if you live near a border, are a full fledged Grenzgänger and spend parts of your day in different countries or travel often.
Because the article is in German here is my rough translation and interpretation of her 7 tips. Please feel free to suggest any changes.
- Turn off the ‘Automatic Network Selection’ mode found on most mobile phones. Manually select your local network. If your phone is set on automatic and it happens to think the French signal from across the Rhine is stronger than the German one and it connects to the French network even if you are physically standing in Germany you will be charged as if you are roaming.
- Understand how your plan (tarife) charges you for incoming and outgoing calls, SMS and data usage when abroad. There was EU wide legislation in 2007 that requires pricing for calls within Europe to be fixed as part of your plan – though there wide variation between plans. Go to Handytarife.de for more information on international roaming and German cell phone plans.
- Know how the system works before you decide to not pick the phone up when you are out of your home country and instead let your calls go to voicemail. I will have to investigate this more, but the claim here is that you can still be charged a roaming fee for having the call connected through to your phone only to have it connected back again to your German voicemail box. Assuming this is true there are two things you can do: 1) Deactivate the forwarding back to your mailbox or 2) setup automatic forwarding to mailbox (phone calls will go straight to voicemail and not be connected through to your handy).
- Use SMS when abroad. Beyond being the cheapest form of basic communication on your handy, receiving SMS’s is typically free. In the example Bianca provides,she carries two cellphone with her when in Switzerland (she lives in Freiburg and goes to school in Basel). She receives incoming SMS’s from her German friends on her German handy for free (and cheap for them). She then replies using her pre-paid Swiss handy which offers better international SMS rates for her.
- If you’re going to be abroad for an extended period of time, buy a pre-paid card in the country where you will be. One consideration here – make sure you have an unlocked handy so you can easily switch your SIM cards.
- If you’re always traveling take a look at Globalsim.net. This seems similar to Maxroam by Cubic Telecom, which claims to save you lots money on international cell phone roaming charges.
- Use phone cards. While not the sexiest of options they’re available at every kiosk and grocery store worldwide and offer very competitive international rates. When I studied abroad in Singapore, while it’s not the most fun standing at a payphone during a monsoon, this is what I used to manage my international calling costs.
Do you have any tips for managing your handy as a Grenzgänger? Please let me know.
Grenzgänger Links
To follow up on my last post about being not just an Expat but also a Grenzgänger, there are a few useful German websites I’ve come across. Mostly these seem to be companies offering Grenzgänger consulting/assistance services but their websites do have some useful tips on taxes, insurance, bank accounts and permits. Most importantly – that you need to register your Swiss employment with your local German finance/tax agency.
In no particular order:
Not just an expat but also a Grenzgänger
If there’s one way you can complicate your life even more so than by moving abroad, it’s by moving abroad and then having one member of your household work in yet a different (third) country. In our case, we’re Americans living in Germany with one of us working in Germany and another about to start a few kilometers down the road in Switzerland. Beyond being an Expat I’m also a Grenzgänger.
How does being a Grenzgänger affect your life? I’m just starting to find out but…
Grenzgänger Krankenversicherung
Since we arrived in Germany and until I start working I’m covered by my wife’s insurance. Once I’m employed again from what I understand of the German system I’m on my own. What are my requirements? I need to have coverage in Switzerland and in Germany as well as travelers coverage for when we are out and about in Europe and the States. So far through recommendations as well as Google I’ve found a few options:
I’m working on getting quotes and information from all three, but if you have any recommendation or advice on this topic please leave them below. I will post more information on the topic of health insurance for expat-Grenzgängers as I figure it out.
Handy Tarife für Grenzgänger
I’m also trying to figure out a reasonable handy tarife. Spending my days in Switzerland, my nights in Germany and hopefully my weekends travelling in Europe I recognize I might be part of a too-small-to-have-a-cell-phone-plan-designed-around-them population but I’m still investigating and trying to figure out the most cost effective option. Further more I would prefer a plan that is data as opposed to minute heavy (would rather email than telephone) – geez I’m picky. If you’ve been through this situation or have any recommendations please leave a note below! I’ll post more information as I find it.
